Indianapolis ? The NCAA, faced with three deaths in pole vault competition this season, has proposed rule changes that would expand the landing pad but not require the use of helmets.

The organization’s Track and Field Committee, which met this week in Indianapolis, approved increasing the minimum size of the landing pad to 19 feet, 8 inches wide and 16-5 deep. Current rules require the pad to be 16-by-12.

The changes come after three vaulters Penn State’s Kevin Dare and high schoolers Samoa Fili and Jesus Quesada died in accidents this year.

On average, one pole vaulter has died each year during the past two decades.

“These rules should prevent almost all competitors who fail to reach the main landing pad from falling onto a hard or unyielding surface,” said Diane Howell, the committee’s chairwoman and an associate athletic director at Houston.

Some people believe competitors should wear helmets in an event that the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research has called the most dangerous sport it studied.

The proposals still must be approved by governing committees in each of the NCAA’s three divisions.